Minggu, 10 Oktober 2010

It's thick with a hint of chocolate, and lingers on the tongue with a long, clean aftertaste. It's definitely one of the most interesting and unusual cups I've ever had." Chris Rubin - Coffee Connoisseur

If you are a fan of coffee, it seems strange if you have not ever heard of Kopi Luwak. This type of coffee indigenous to Indonesia, said to be the most expensive type of coffee in the world, this coffee even get into the Guinness Book of Records.

Civet coffee or kopi luwak in Indonesian language is a type of coffee that is very famous among coffee lovers. Not only because it is considered special, but also because of the price. Kopi luwak can reach the price range of U.S. $ 100 per 450 grams is commonly known is derived from natural fermentation results that will be issued along with luwak waste. Luwak is a type mongoose. Some species of mongoose found in Southeast Asia, but which produces the best flavored coffee is Indonesian Civet. This species live in Sumatra and Java.

Kopi luwak is one of coffee types. The beans of kopi luwak have been eaten and passed through the digestive tract of an animal like civet cat named luwak (Paradoxurus Hermaphrodirus). This coffee has been popular worldwide, with the exorbitant price of course. Kopi luwak price have reached five times more than the previous most expensive coffee from Jamaica, Blue Mountain coffee.

Minggu, 16 Mei 2010

As Philip Richardson, my co-worker and fellow coffee snob, wrote about on his blog yesterday, a few of us in the office got together for a cupping of the Kopi Luwak coffee. Philip received this as a Christmas gift from a partner and I was totally thrilled that he was willing to share it.

It’s not surprising that you probably haven’t heard of Kopi Luwak coffee. For one thing, only 500 pounds of beans are produced a year. For another, it’s about $200/lb and upper crust espresso shops sell it for about $50 a shot. Totop it all off, the coffee is literally collected from the shit of an Indonesian cat called a Luwak, which lives in trees and eats coffee beans.

No kidding. The little sheet of paper included in the package says…

The resulting coffee is said to be like no other. It has a rich, heavy flavor with hints of caramel or chocolate.

Other terms used to describe it are earth, musty, and exotic.

Musty?

I had originally suggested to Phil that we get in touch with Dave Schomer of Espresso Vivace, arguably one of the best baristas in the world. Turns out we needn’t look outisde the halls for talent and equipment. Terry, our CRM Perf Test Lead, is a fellow coffee fanatic. He showed up yesterday with a Brewtus Expobar (as recommended by David Schomer), a Mazza Mini burr grinder, and something that totally blew my mind: a gram-weight scale. When it comes to coffee, the CRM team doesn’t mess around.

Terry was measuring 23 grams to the shot and with a quarter pound each of bold and medium roasts, gave us exactly ten shots. Enough for each person to get a shot from both roasts.

The Bold. It was go big or go home, so we started off with the bold. Damn, these guys aren’t messing around, this is good coffee. The pull started dark and evened out quickly, staying a rich brown all the way through. Taste was good, with full expression of all the oils in the bean, but I wouldn’t have paid $50.

The Medium. Realistically, I’m not ever one to pay 50 bucks on a shot of espresso, but this one might change my mind. Stunningly better than the bold, it was absolutely fantastic with a rich caramel color and a thick, thick, thick shot from top to bottom. Not a single hint of bitterness with a delicious sweet taste coating the inside of my mouth at the end. I dare say it cleanly beats Vivace, though at the price…

Wow. Pretty good for something that came out of the tail end of an Indonesian cat.